New International Version
Deuteronomy 8:9
9a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
Deuteronomy 8:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
- English Standard Version (ESV)a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
- New King James Version (NKJV)a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
- New Living Translation (NLT)It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.
Context of Deuteronomy 8:9
7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. 10When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
Read all of Deuteronomy 8Deuteronomy 8:9 word by word
אֶ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹ֤א בְמִסְכֵּנֻת֙ תֹּֽאכַל־בָּ֣הּ לֶ֔חֶם לֹֽא־תֶחְסַ֥ר כֹּ֖ל בָּ֑הּ אֶ֚רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲבָנֶ֣יהָ בַרְזֶ֔ל וּמֵהֲרָרֶ֖יהָ תַּחְצֹ֥ב נְחֹֽשֶׁת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- A landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- whereinאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
- thou shalt eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
- withoutלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
- scarcenessמִסְכֵּנֻתmiskênûth · povertyH4544
- thou shalt not lackחָסֵרchâsêr · to lackH2637
- whose stonesאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
- ironבַּרְזֶלbarzel · ironH1270
- and out of whose hillsהָרָרhârâr · mountainH2042
- thou mayest digחָצַבchâtsab châtsêb · to hewH2672
- brassנְחֹ֫שֶׁתnechôsheth · bronzeH5178
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 8:9
- Deuteronomy 33:25The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
- Joshua 22:8saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide the plunder from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”
- 1 Chronicles 22:14“I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them.
- Job 28:2Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 8:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9A land whose stones are iron - Not only meaning that there were iron mines throughout the land, but that the loose stones were strongly impregnated with iron, ores of this metal (the most useful of all the products of the mineral kingdom) being every where in great plenty. Out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass - As there is no such thing in nature as a brass mine, the word נחשת nechosheth should be translated copper; of which, by the addition of the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-9Verses 7-9 See Exodus 3:8 note, and the contrast expressed in Deuteronomy 11:10-11, between Palestine and Egypt. The physical characteristics and advantages of a country like Palestine must have been quite strange to Israel at the time Moses was speaking: compare Deuteronomy 3:25 note. To have praised the fertility and excellence of the promised land at an earlier period would have increased the murmurings and impatience of the people at being detained in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Iron was not widely used during this part of the Bronze Age. Only a few cultures knew how to smelt iron (heat the ore to remove metal) and shape it into tools and weapons (see 1 Samuel 13:19–21). Later, Israel learned to use this much stronger metal. They were able to mine it and make tools and weapons from it (see Joshua 17:16–18; 1 Kings 6:7; 2 Kings 6:5; 1 Chronicles 22:3).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. a land whose stones are iron--The abundance of this metal in Palestine, especially among the mountains of Lebanon, those of Kesraoun, and elsewhere, is attested not only by Josephus, but by Volney, Buckingham, and other travellers. brass--not the alloy brass, but the ore of copper. Although the mines may now be exhausted or neglected, they yielded plenty of those metals anciently (1Ch 22:3; 29:2-7; Is 60:17).Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 8:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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